UPDATE: USCIS to Publish Revised Form I-539 and New Form I-539A on March 8
USCIS has revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on the website on March 8, 2019.
USCIS has revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on the website on March 8, 2019.
On May 20, USCIS will begin premium processing for FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Petitioners who do not file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, concurrently with an FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petition reque
USCIS has launched an H-1B Employer Data Hub to provide information to the public on employers petitioning for H-1B workers.
I am currently located in India and working as a Technical Architect in software MNC. I had a prior H1B valid from Feb 2008 till Dec 2014 which was sponsored by my previous company and has about 17 days left in it to complete a total of 6 years. After this I have joined a new firm, so wish to know if my current company or a new company can file for a Green Card while I am still in India. If yes , what is the way forward?
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This forum has been very helpful, and motivational for me. I finally got approved after almost 3 yrs.
On April 10, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year (FY) 2020. After completing the random selection process for the regular cap, USCIS also determined that it has received a number of petitions projected as sufficient to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S.
Reminder For Employers: All List B documents must contain a photo of your new hire
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced additional guidance (PDF, 222 KB) regarding the adjudication of spousal petitions involving minors, following up on the agency’s February update to its policy.
As part of USCIS's efforts to fulfill President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, USCIS has taken numerous actions to strengthen policies and regulations designed to protect U.S. workers and their wages, enhance fraud detection and prevention in employment-based visa programs, and increase the transparency of employment-based visa programs.
Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa? If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process.
Foreign visitors to the U.S.
In January 2017, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) modified how it presents processing time information. Previously, the AAO reported, by form type, the average completion time for the month’s cases. But certain scenarios (such as a month with few completions in certain categories) could result in an imprecise portrayal of processing times.
Today I got NIE waiver approval from the US consulate. They sent the approval mail with a passport number. I have a valid USA visa. I am planning to travel back to the USA in a week. What doc's required to travel ? or NIE waiver is sufficient?
You have not told us what type of visa you possess. In addition to the NIE, you must meet all the usual requirements for your visa type.
Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
How can I apply for the Einstein visa?
We would highly recommend that you have your resume evaluated by a competent lawyer. That would be the natural first step towards the process.
Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
I read your article on the Einstein visa category. I am a foreign-trained Medical Doctor. I have an article that was published in a scientific magazine. Do you think l will qualify for this visa category?
Publishing a single article is unlikely to be even close to qualifying, unless the article has been published in an extremely high impact journal.
Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
I am currently a postdoctoral scholar in the USA. However, I thought one needed a permanent tenure-track position to qualify for the EB-1 visa category. Is that not so?
The Einstein visa (EB1-A category) is different from the outstanding researcher or professor (EB-1B)
category. A job offer is not necessary for an EB1-A petition.
Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will offer filing flexibilities to provide relief to certain applicants and petitioners impacted by delays at a USCIS lockbox. These flexibilities only apply to benefit requests submitted to a USCIS lockbox and not to USCIS service centers or field offices.
The following temporary flexibilities are effective for 60 days from June 10 until Aug. 9, 2021:
Discussion Topics, Thursday, June 10, 2021:
I am planning to file green card (I130/I1485) for my mother. She was born in 1949 in India and does not have her birth certificate. Only identity with date of birth she has is her passport and Aadhar card. She has visited US couple of times.
Go ahead and get a certificate of non-availability if possible, get a birth certificate from New York, get two affidavits from people who were alive when she was born and submit all of that together.
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I stayed in US on H1b from 2013-18, almost 5 years and went back to India. In 2020(after 1 year of cooling period), my employer has filed new application for H1B and lottery got selected in 2020.
I got my visa stamped in April 2021 with a validity till 2023.Because of new location & salary mismatch, I had to file the amendment and this time I got the approval for next 9 months only till March 2022.
On further enquiry with my employer's immigration team, I came to know that USCIS has used the remaining 9 months on the first H1B. My queries are:
1. Does it mean I will be allowed around 7 consecutive years of stay in US( 9 months on older visa plus 6 years on new visa) or I need to come back to India and serve 1 year of cooling period after spending 9 months ?
2. Will my new visa be applicable once I spend 9 months of time in US?
3. Is there a way I can opt to take approval duration on the current visa only?
The USCIS had made a mistake and they should give you the entire six years. So your H-1 should be approved for three years and not for nine months. Your lawyer should reach out to them and say you are entitled to the three years.
Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.
I decided to approach Rajiv when my employer requested me to help him get an H-1B approval for a senior executive he was interested in hiring. His petition had already been denied, making matters difficult. I thought of Rajiv right away because of my own experience with their law firm 15 years ago. My green card was done by Rajiv and his team and back then, everything went very smoothly. I found the team highly competent, responsive, and personable. I am so glad I thought of Rajiv because the H1 was approved, and I had an awesome experience working with the team (Rajiv, Pavi, Kalpana, and Anna) Pavi is energetic and efficient. The H1 petition was filed within 5 days, including personal review and reworking of the case by Rajiv. I admire their speed. I also had a chance to work with Kalpana when we had to respond to the RFE and it was great working with her, she is very detailed and thorough in her work. Anna was always there when I needed her, I truly enjoyed working with the whole team. Additionally, I really liked that they involved us in their whole process throughout. Our folders and our documents were open to us. We were all working on the same documents collaboratively.
Lastly, Rajiv supervised the case throughout and was always available to meet for any questions/doubts we had. Not only is he knowledgeable and experienced, but he is also easy to talk to explains the most nuanced concepts of the law in a manner that is comprehensible to anyone. I will make sure that I refer all my friends and coworkers to Rajiv. Thank you all for being so wonderful.